Slow Cooker-dom

So my sister has pushed me and pushed me to get a slow cooker and I finally broke down yesterday and bought one because it was on sale at Target. Does anyone else use these? Any great diet recipes out there?

I love using mine. I bring it to work with me sometimes and will make dinner while at work. I have a couple of links. I'll see if I can find them. http://www.bestsimplerecipes.com/default.aspx
This one has some pretty good recipes on it.

Any recipe can be a "diet" recipe--you just have to tweak the ingredients. I found a recipe on RecipeZaar for copycat Panera broccoli cheese soup. I used whole wheat flour instead of white, reduced fat cheese, skim milk, extra veggies, etc.

Funny you should ask. My oven is broken so I am using my slow cooker to make dinner tonight!

Our favorite recipe. Pot Roast.

I spray the crock with Pam. I get a big ol' roast and put it in the crock. Fatty roasts do turn out best IMO but I take off all the fat at the end and eat mostly veg's with just 3oz meat. You can use a lean roast but then probably not cook it as long. Anyway, stick the roast in the crock, raw. It can even be frozen, just cook it all day (like 10am to 6pm). Take a can of Campbells Healthy Request or low fat Cream of Mushroom soup and spread it over the roast. Then sprinkle on a packet of Lipton onion soup mix (powder). I sort of mix it into the soup a little bit with a fork. The some black pepper. And about a half can of water poured around the roast. Cover and cook on low all day. If it isn't frozen you can usually do like 12 noon to 6. Or longer... on LOW so it doesn't dry out. You can put big chunks of potato, celery and carrots around the roast also and it turns out nice. At the end take everything out but leave the liquid and the soup in there, put it into a glass dish and wait for the grease to rise to the top and take it all off. Then whisk it in a pan with some salt and pepper to taste, bring to a boil and add about a cup of cold water mixed with 2T cornstarch, whisking the whole time. Simmer till thick. There ya go, lowfat gravy.

Also I like to do a lean pork roast in it with bbq sauce and shred it at the end. Yum.

Also we do turkey Italian sausages (hot and mild) in the crock, raw or just browned in a pan, and throw on top of them a couple of sliced red and yellow peppers and a couple slices sweet onions and cook that for several hours on low. Yummy on hoagies for the family or on a plate for me.

I have to tell you that it is so great to use a crockpot because everything I put into it was inedible (raw) so there was no tasting while I cooked, and being able to walk away from the crockpot kept me out of the kitchen all day. Fantastic!

don't laugh at me, but i'm AFRAID of the slow cooker LOL I hate the idea of the heat being on and cooking going on when i'm not home LOL I"m such a moron!!! hahahaha....I dont' mind on a saturday or something while i'm there just in case it all BURSTS INTO FLAMES!!! yah i know i'm an idiot

Trazey -- you could always run a lead cord and stick it in the middle of the lawn for the day

I used to be the same way, but I figure since it hasn't burned down my house when I was home -- it should be okay. Also, I have an outlet that has a shut off to it if the thing shorts out (lovely being married to an electrician!!)

don't laugh at me, but i'm AFRAID of the slow cooker LOL I hate the idea of the heat being on and cooking going on when i'm not home LOL I"m such a moron!!! hahahaha....I dont' mind on a saturday or something while i'm there just in case it all BURSTS INTO FLAMES!!! yah i know i'm an idiot

I'm an idiot, too, I guess I prefer to put the stuff in the pot in the evening, cook it overnight (while I'm home to hear if the smoke alarm goes off!), then turn it off in the morning. Then I just turn it on long enough to heat it up when I get home, or we just scoop some out and microwave it since it's already cooked.

Being a southern hemisphere girl I just pulled out my crockpot as the temperature is turning and its time for all those winter foods. Stews, casseroles and soups all work brilliant in the crockpot. I made pumpkin soup on Sunday and I'm going to make a chicken and vegetable stew (diced chicken breast, lots of veges, low salt low fat stock, garlic, herbs, and barley grains), let it cook away until it makes the house smell all yummy!

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I love my slow cooker! I'm a vegetarian and there are some great recipe's out there, just google. When I was eating poultry I would put 4 chicken breasts, frozen, Boneless/Skinless, and dump a large jar of salsa over it and leave it on low for 8 or 9 hrs while I was at school. I'd take them out and shred them with forks and have shredded chicken for the week. Now I do a lot of soups, curries and bean based dishes.

I actually love it the most in the summer. I can cook without overheating my whole apartment, it doesn't have to be heavy food either.

Ok, thanks for the inspiration. I just pulled out my s.c. and layered the bottom with baby carrots. Then I took a frozen chicken out it's bag and put it on top of the carrots. I think there are some parts in a bag in the chicken- I'll get them when some defrosting happen hehe. Then I put two cups of water and some dried onion and garlic and two bullion cubes- didn't even dissove them.
huh, a work in progress, I think.

I've been using a SC for years. It is wonderful because it doesn't heat up the house, and they say it uses about the same energy as a light bulb. One thing to remember, though, is that the liquid doesn't evaporate so if I'm taking a regular recipe to the crock, I usually reduce the liquid by 1/3 to 1/2.

Use it for stews, beans, chillis, steak in mushroom sauce (it really tenderizes tough cuts of meats). I've seen some recipes of overnight oatmeal, etc. for breakfasts, but I haven't tried those -- yet!